It’s Him – Ch15

Evil

Zhao Laoshi couldn’t keep things to himself anymore. His personality was the opposite of his father’s. His father would never tell anyone anything; he could keep everything to himself, even to the extent of not having the habit of writing in a diary like other serial killers.

On the other hand, Zhao Laoshi had a group of friends since he was little. He couldn’t hide anything, and now that he had discovered something so important, he couldn’t keep it in.

At first, he wanted to call his mother, but then he realized that calling her wouldn’t help. His mother didn’t care about his father’s life or death.

So, he called Li Xun.

The reason Li Xun had initially shown her reliability and enthusiasm in front of him was because she had grasped his personality.

“I know how my father was transported out!”

“You’re really clever! How did you figure that out?” Li Xun was also excited.

“I stayed up last night watching the surveillance video. A janitor pushed a very large trash bin that night, and it was obviously very heavy.”

“Is it really this?” Li Xun was surprised, adding, “They used a trash bin to transport a person? The purpose must not be revenge; your father is definitely still alive.”

“That’s what I thought too,” Zhao Laoshi said. He found it really comfortable talking with Li Xun. She not only kept up with his thoughts, but also came up with even more ideas. Zhao Laoshi asked, “Should I call the police now?”

“At first, I thought calling the police was the best response, but then I reconsidered,” Li Xun said. “Think about it. If it was the janitor who did it and they took your father out of the school, there must be a certain purpose behind it.”

Li Xun analyzed, “No matter what their goal is, your father is definitely still alive, which means he’s being hidden. The police have searched everywhere but found nothing, which shows they’ve hidden him very well. If you call the police now, they’ll surely question the janitors, which will alert them. What if the perpetrators panic and decide to kill your father to cover up the evidence? What will you do then?”

At this point, Li Xun was truly unsure whether Zhao Laoshi’s father would survive if the police intervened. So, she genuinely thought this through without trying to deceive him.

Zhao Laoshi considered this, and his back broke into a cold sweat.

He said, “Then I won’t call the police. We’ll investigate ourselves first to find out where my father is hidden, and then we’ll report it to the police.”

Li Xun breathed a sigh of relief, saying, “I’ll go with you.”

“You’re about to take your college entrance exams, won’t this delay you?” Zhao Laoshi asked.

“No,” Li Xun replied. “Mainly because you’re alone and in danger. If something happens, you won’t have anyone to help.”

This touched Zhao Laoshi’s heart. His friends now had their own lives and couldn’t help him. At best, they would just offer some verbal comfort.

Li Xun made sure Zhao Laoshi promised not to act alone before she felt relieved.

Both sides were satisfied with this decision.

That night, Li Xun returned to the basement.

As soon as she entered, a strong chemical smell hit her nose.

Li Xun’s heart skipped a beat.

Her mind immediately conjured up images of a murder, dismemberment, and the use of chemicals to dispose of the body.

Fortunately, a cough came from the corner at that moment.

She shone the flashlight in that direction.

The person was still alive.

Zhao Laoshi was no longer tied up with ropes but was now locked to a cement pillar in the basement with an iron chain. The chain was only about a meter long, and unless he figured out a way to chop off his own foot, he definitely couldn’t escape.

Li Xun now noticed that there were cement columns in the corner.

This situation was slightly more comfortable than before.

It was actually more humiliating than being completely bound, as it made him feel like a dog.

But Zhao Laoshi remained composed. He probably understood the confusion about the strong smell.

“Your mother did a blood test here today.”

“Can I ask about the result?”

“Besides the blood I lost here, there were no other blood marks,” Zhao Laoshi said. “Your mother thought this was the place where the murderer kept the children. But in reality, she was wrong.”

Li Xun didn’t follow the logic: “It’s just that there was no blood marks. Maybe the person just kept the children here, without killing them. Perhaps they destroyed the scene afterward.”

Li Xun brought steamed dumplings and hot soup for him. She set them out, curious why he wasn’t tied up this time.

“Why did the method change?”

Zhao Laoshi accepted the dumplings. He didn’t mention escaping, nor did he talk about Li Yuguan having another accomplice. Instead, he said, “Your mother is afraid I’ll die.”

Li Xun had thought of this too. Now, the police were definitely searching for him, and finding the connection to Li Xun’s mother wouldn’t be easy. This brought up the issue of the victim’s family from back then.

He clearly remembered that the last woman had indeed survived, but it was impossible for her to have a daughter who could still be in her senior year of high school.

Moreover, none of the students in his class had transferred temporarily.

These two points alone ruled out any connection between the student’s parents and the victim’s family.

But she still had an accomplice, and the accomplice was directly a school janitor. It was just a matter of time before the police questioned the janitors.

Thinking about this, he became curious about what the mother-daughter duo would react when the police finally rescued him.

The dumplings were cold. He took a bite, and there were pieces of lotus root inside.

Teacher Zhao ate the dumplings and said, “These were steamed by my son for you.”

A definite statement.

He wasn’t angry about his son being deceived, nor did he curse Li Xun.

He was just eating the dumplings, realizing this problem.

“Your son is smarter than we thought. He already figured out the janitor issue.”

The person eating the dumplings paused for a moment.

“Then I told him not to call the police, and we would investigate ourselves. He believed it.”

Zhao wasn’t surprised at all. In fact, he found it somewhat amusing. “That’s him. Since he was little, he’s always been soft-eared. Whatever others say, he believes.”

“I heard that children complement their parents,” Li Xun said.

Zhao thought she was going to say that strong people like him would have weak children, so it was normal for his son to be weak.

But instead, she said, “You often harm people outside, and one day, your son will be harmed too.” Wasn’t that a form of complementing each other?

Zhao said, “If that day really comes, there’s nothing to be done.”

“You’re quite open-minded,” Li Xun said. “I originally wanted to threaten you with your son, but now it seems unnecessary.” After all, if he loved his son, he wouldn’t kill a child roughly the same age as his own.

Zhao smiled. “If your mother cared about you, she wouldn’t be doing this kind of thing during your crucial senior year.”

He realized that Li Xun valued family relationships, so he aimed to attack this point: “If your mother is arrested, your future will be ruined.”

Li Xun’s face showed no concern. “If that day comes, it can’t be helped.”

Zhao Laoshi continued, “I don’t understand. If I didn’t give you a chance back then, you would have been expelled by now. Your mother treated me this way. Don’t you feel guilty about how you’ve treated me as your teacher?”

He didn’t mention it, but as soon as he did, Li Xun remembered it.

She immediately thought of those students who had committed suicide. In the blink of an eye, she said, “You gave me a chance back then, didn’t you want to see me driven to suicide?”

If she had committed suicide back then, no one would have blamed him for being the homeroom teacher.

Once she connected the dots, everything that happened later made sense.

At first, the class leader had asked her several times whether she had reported to the homeroom teacher, saying that the classmates had bullied her.

Then, the math teacher always made things difficult for her in front of the whole class.

“I wasn’t bullied by other students, and I didn’t commit suicide. Are you disappointed?”

Zhao Laoshi finished eating, had some hot soup, and sat down on the floor, feeling completely at ease.

Clearly, he was the one who was trapped, yet now he was enjoying watching others’ struggles.

“This time? After your mother is arrested, do you think you can still stay in school?”

“I won’t let that happen.”

Zhao Laoshi looked at this student and suddenly came up with a new way to break the deadlock.

“You’re smarter than I thought. How about this? There’s no evidence left from the past, but I’ll give you a choice. If you agree, all our problems will be solved.”

Li Xun didn’t believe him.

Zhao Laoshi said, “All you need to do is help me kill someone. All the problems will be solved.”

“You’re not pretending to be a good person anymore?”

“I’m helping you. If I make you kill someone, I’m the mastermind, and you’re the one who acts. Your mother kidnapped me. We’ve both committed crimes. We’ll all be fine.”

“Do you want to do it?”

Li Xun lowered her head in surprise, looking at the person.

At that moment, his eyes were filled with fervor, a side Li Xun had never seen before.

She had never caught the most important aspect of his personality before.

At this moment, she saw his bruised face, still without any negative emotions, and there was even a hint of excitement in his expression. Li Xun vaguely grasped a bit of his personality.

He could be so at ease, so calm, because he had been enjoying everything from the beginning. Despite enduring physical harm, his spirit was still relishing it all.

He was enjoying the fact that the victim’s family had caught him but couldn’t do anything. They couldn’t get any clues and could only collapse in front of him again and again.

He had been locked up, but watching others struggle and collapse in pain, he knew the real prisoners were the others.

It was the high school student who had made a huge mistake.

It was the family members who guarded the murderer but couldn’t figure out where their child was.

He was enjoying it all in the most malicious way.

Li Xun realized then that he would never give her any substantive evidence, just as he would never tell her anything about her mother.

He was simply enjoying it all.

“Now it’s your turn to think about it. If you kill someone, your mother will probably calm down and stop chasing me. I have leverage over you, and you have leverage over me. We’ll both be on the same boat, so things will be easier to discuss.”

Zhao Laoshi smiled as he shared his plan.